SUPERGIRL #55 Review

It’s not bad, it’s not good

By Ben Johnson
August 24, 2010Source: Mania

I have many interests in life, and in each interest category I often have a favorite thing. When it comes to women’s clothing I love something that displays some midsection. There’s just something awesome about seeing some skin displayed where there is usually only cloth.

While reading about my favorite heroes I often enjoy stories with doppelgangers. Seeing men (or women) in tights fighting an evil twin is like finding that perfect angle to scratch a nether’s itch, the one where no one else can tell what you’re doing but you can revel in the sweet relief. Be it a Spider-Man with extra limbs and barbed webbing, or Ultra Man battling big blue, it’s a blast to watch these flawed mirror images and learn their motivations for the evil lives they chose to live.

Keeping the above in mind, imagine my excitement when I saw the latest issue of Supergirl, graced by none other than Bizarro-Supergirl. Hot damn, it’s like Christmas in August and I don’t even have to bribe a fat guy with eggnog.

Then I read it. Supergirl # 55 is a mostly a fight issue. I’m sure most of you know exactly what I mean. The story has happened. Peopled have weighed in across the internet on the merits of the tale. All that’s left is the battle, and here you get it in spades. However, as a single issue, there isn’t much to offer. If, like me, you haven’t been following Superman’s cousin, you’ll have almost no idea what’s going on, although I’m not sure how important that is.

Supergirl and her ugly cousin fight. A lot. Then some other costumed folk show up and it’s all over, except for a totally uninteresting cliffhanger. There are a few funny bits playing off the ‘opposites’ theme, but I also find my complaints there. In nearly every Bizarro story writers go over the top (in a good way) making every statement, every motion, every power, every thought, the exact opposite of what the chalky weirdos are trying to express. Not so in this case, and it just throws the whole thing off, mostly because a few statements are reverse, but almost everything else is straight forward.

Cover art to SUPERGIRL #55 by Amy Reeder

Sure the powers are different. We have heat breath and freezing stare, but even that throws a wrench in the works. While flipping pages I mostly wanted to know what the hell made this a Bizarro version of Supergirl except for those few differences. She was the same except for fighting the Girl of Steel and having a weird font every time she talked. The end.

I’d love to write more. I’d love to thrill readers with wit, be it either negative or positive concerning this little book, but I think I’ve said it all. It’s not bad, it’s not good. It doesn’t stand for anything. It’s just there. It’s Supergirl #55.